Konoha Academy-The Shinobi Program
by Flute Chick
Summary: It's sort of a high school universe, but I put my own twist on it. Naruto is joining his school ninja program, and gets placed on a team despite his poor start. Since he knows his classmates are his teammates, it makes life all the more complicated-because ninja have to wear masks. Now, Naruto must face homework, crushes, missions, and inner demons . . .
1. Day One

**Ok, so I do a lot of high school fics and never seem to finish them. I'm trying very hard to figure out how to continue them, but this story idea has been nagging at me. So I will work on it, and like my other stories, will update rarely. Please enjoy each chapter, because I will try to finish my older stories before I work on this full on. The school will be based mostly off of American private schools, even though some of the politics with the villages are canon. I'm putting my own spin on it . . . I know high school AU is very cliché, but people seem to like my style fairly well in my other fic, so I think it will be nice. **

* * *

_Chapter One:_

_Day One_

Naruto yawned, stretching. It was the first day of his junior year at Konoha Academy. His uncle was lying on the couch as he got breakfast for himself.

"Get a move on, kid. Don't want to be late," the white-haired man said, not making a move to help at all.

"Y'know, I wouldn't be late so much if you'd just drive me to school instead of making me walk." The older man chuckled and went back to reading his magazines. Naruto rolled his eyes, muttered something along the lines of "you old perv," threw on his obnoxious (supposedly lucky) orange jacket, and made his way to the school.

Konoha wasn't much different from the other high schools of the town, despite the stereotype of all the kids being rich and uppity (a group of students here and there, but not the entire school). Sure, there were a few dress code rules, but the only thing about Konoha Academy was that it had the Shinobi program. That's what made it so respected-each city in the area had a shinobi school, and in Konoha, once an ancient village like the others, now thrived with protecting ninja that still trained at this program. The leader of the city-officially the Hokage-was a powerful, well-respected ninja. It was Naruto's ambition to become Hokage.

Of course, he'd have to actually get into the program first before he could even become an official ninja. Very few people did. But he was going to, no matter how much people ignored, doubted, or openly said that he would always be a failure.

He found his locker and looked at his schedule. For once, he was early. He grinned. Maybe the day wouldn't be so bad this time.

* * *

_Period 1 - - - - - English 3 - - - - - - - - - -Room 024- - - - -Mr. Kakashi_

_Period 2 - - - - - Introduction to Art - - - -Room 005- - - - -Ms. Kurenai_

_Period 3 - - - - - Algebra 2- - - - - - - - - -Room 111- - - - -Doctor Yamato_

_Period 4 - - - - - Chemistry - - - - - - - - -Room 206- - - - -Mr. Ebisu_

_Period 5 - - - - - Lunch- - - - - - - - - - - -Cafeteria - - - - - N/A_

_Period 6 - - - - - Physical Education - - - Gymnasium- - - -Mr. Green _

_Period 7 - - - - - Study Hall - - - - - - - - -Room 117- - - - -Mr. Asuma_

_Period 8 - - - - - World Civilization - - - - -Room 021- - - - Mr. Iruka_

_Dear Student: You have applied for the Shinobi Studies course. Please report to your study hall room after school in order to take the application exam. An appointed instructor will administer the exam. You will receive your shinobi mask and further instruction within three days of the completion of your exam should you pass. Good luck._

* * *

Of course, Naruto knew his chances were slim. But he still grinned at the bottom note. And he groaned at the thought of gym with Mr. Green, who insisted that he was to be called "Coach Green". The man was _way_ too intense. It was a class everyone had to take for one year, and he seemed to think that it was a life changing experience.

He headed to English. A smiling, tanned face grinned from a boy next to an empty desk. Naruto grinned back-that boy had befriended him in their math class the year before. Kiba was a bombastic dog lover who didn't really care too much about his grades. Like Naruto, Kiba was kind of a social outcast in the school. A lot of the kids disliked Naruto since he was little, so he'd never had a friend until Kiba. Hinata, Kiba's friend, soon followed suit. She was as quiet as the two boys combined were loud. Hinata was smart, though, so she wasn't in any of the regular classes with them. Hinata, unlike her twin, Neji, wasn't even remotely egotistic because of her intelligence. She was so quiet, she was often unnoticed.

Kakashi came into the class grinning, a few minutes after the bell rang.

"Sorry I'm late. Hello class, my name is Kakashi. If another staff member comes in, it's Mr. Kakashi, okay? Those of you who had me freshman year know how this works. I see a few familiar faces, but also some new ones. Go down the row, say your name, your favorite color, and something randomly interesting about yourself . . ." Gah, beginning of the year introductions. As people listed their favorite colors, the man made a small mark in a notebook on his desk. Maybe a tally? Naruto pouted-he was the only one whose favorite color was orange.

Art with Kurenai wasn't so bad. At least Naruto didn't have to do another introduction. She just had them doodle on a page the entire class, then turn in the page. She said it was a way to let the creativity flow, and that she'd be looking forward to seeing what the students were capable of.

Doctor Yamato was strict and soft-spoken. He guaranteed that he'd give the class the tools they needed to solve problems, but he wouldn't hold our hands. Naruto wasn't sure if he'd like Yamato, but he knew he respected the guy.

Ebisu was a teacher Naruto had already had for freshman year biology. He'd _hated_ that class, and therefore detested Ebisu. The man did not respect his students, but constantly demanded respect from them. Mr. Green was as energetic as ever. Finally, World Civilization was up. He liked this teacher, whom he'd never met before.

He didn't like his classmates all that much, however. Kiba and Hinata were both in study hall that period. Not even Sakura, his crush since the sixth grade, was there. No, he was stuck next to Sasuke Uchiha in a class filled with the stuck-up elitists. There was a fairly small group of them, but they were rich kids who didn't even bother talking to anyone outside their little group. Neji Hyuga was there, too. Those were the worst ones-they had old families in the village who were well-respected, rich, and often powerful ninja. The transfer student Gaara hung out with them too, but he was too quiet for Naruto to really judge.

Of course, Naruto had tried to make friends with them when they were little. That never happened. Every kid in the town seemed to be on orders from their parents to avoid him, and the adults all seemed afraid. He had never done anything to deserve it. His uncle never explained. So, Naruto smiled and laughed and pranked and joked by himself, since he had no friends to do so with.

Finally came the end of the day. Waving goodbye to Kiba and Hinata, he ran back to his study hall room. There was no one else in the room except for him.

"Uh, hello?" A chuckle. Naruto whirled around.

"Sorry I'm late, kid. Had to go change out of my civilian clothes. Naruto Uzumaki, right?" The ninja had white, spiky hair and his mask was plain black cloth that covered all of his face except for one eye. He wore the standard uniform given to any ninja instructor. Black jumpsuit, green vest with a ton of pockets, and the Konoha headband.

"Right. What do I have to do?"

"First, list the basic ranks of ninja from lowest to highest."

"Genin, Chuunin, Jounin, and Kage."

"Good. Now, Naruto . . . why do you want to become a ninja?"

"It's my dream to become Hokage, sir." A noise, maybe a scoff. For once, Naruto decided it would be a good idea to not respond.

"Name the three types of jutsus."

"Ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu." _Anyone who knew anything about ninja would know these things This is a snap so far_.

"Okay. Here is the hard part. I am going to need you to perform two of each of these three, to know you are capable. Because genjutsu is the most complicated for beginners, we will not do this. Should you be able to perform each jutsu I give you, then you will receive your mask upon the deliberation of those who check your test results."

"Taijutsu is simple hand-to-hand combat. Try and take my headband, fight me in order to get it." He had his arms crossed behind his back. _Seriously_? Naruto jumped, grabbing at the headband, but was knocked back. He hadn't even seen the man move.

He had to think out of the box then. This was a high-ranked ninja that he had to beat.

Naturally, Naruto charged again and again. The white-haired ninja continued to dodge and push back. Naruto panted, pausing. Just as the man seemed to take pity on the boy, Naruto dashed up and got the headband.

"Heh, not bad, huh?"

The man looked amused, but not particularly shocked.

"Good job. Now, ninjutsu. I want you to choose from one of these scrolls what jutsu you want to learn. Understand that you are not allowed to use it if you don't get into the program. You have energy called chakra inside of you that you can focus through certain hand signals to create a desired effect. First you have to unlock this chakra. Then, you have to accurately and quickly form the symbols. Then you will be able to perform it. Which of these would you like to try?" Naruto glanced through them.

"Shadow Clones." _Sounds like fun_, he grinned.

"Start by holding completely still. Just think about your breathing. Don't change or try to control it, but think about it. Just breathe in and out for a few minutes." The man made a few marks on a clipboard. Naruto nodded and concentrated.

"Good. Now, do you feel the chakra moving throughout your body?" Yes, Naruto felt it. It was a strange, prickly feeling, like when his feet fell asleep. He nodded.

"Look at the scroll in front of you, but keep that feeling. Make the hand signals that you see in front of you in order, then release an amount of chakra." Naruto stared carefully at each of the positions, then recreated them. The chakra spiked, and he let it. A clone appeared next to him, kind of pathetic. It disappeared in a second.

"Ugh, no, I can do better," Naruto assured him. He was panting from the effort it had already taken.

"You can try as many times as you like. You'll make us stay here longer, kid, but your last attempt will be the one I record." Naruto stared and stared at the scroll. He worked on the jutsu a few more times, with similar results.

"Come on, come on," he grumbled to himself. The man looked at him with pity. _Wish I could just tell him how to do this right._

"Care to try another jutsu? This isn't the first choice for someone's first try . . ."

"No, I can do this . . ." Naruto sighed, then sat and breathed for a few minutes. Maybe he could focus more of his chakra if he became more familiar with it.

_A deep groaning growl sounded out through the darkness._ Naruto flinched, nearly falling over. What was that?

"Are you okay, Naruto?"

"I'm fine . . . let me try again." It was late. The guy in charge had checked the halls-they were the last ones in the building, there for hours. Naruto couldn't fail now, being the last one there. The chakra seemed stronger somehow, easier for him to feel and control. He copied the hand signals again.

"_Shadow Clone Jutsu!_" About thirty other Naruto clones appeared, all grinning widely in satisfaction.

"So," they all said, "what about this?" The masked man blinked.

"Impressive, after that struggle. Still, you're the last one out, which may not be so good for your report. I'll note that you jumped from a sad excuse for one clone to thirty strong ones, though." Naruto grinned and went home. The students hanging around outside chuckled. Looks like anyone who took the test mulled around the front until the school went dark.

"Heh, dead last, Naruto?" one of them said. He just kept walking.

Kakashi scratched his head.

"That chakra spike . . . I haven't seen that since . . . no, I'm just imagining things."

* * *

**It's only an introduction, so there won't be a lot of juicy stuff in this or maybe the next chapter. I'm kind of trying to set up the world that I thought up first-normal high school mixed with ninja missions and stuff.**

**Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!**

**Flute Chick**


	2. Team Seven

**Well I have a poll going. No clue what pairings I'll have. So . . . I'm asking for help! See the ending note for more info. **

* * *

_Chapter Two:_

_Team Seven_

The mask was on his desk in his room. Naruto marveled at it. It was orange, the first good thing about it. It had black lines like whiskers on either cheek. He put it on and looked in the mirror-his eyes were completely shaded black, though he could see perfectly fine. A small black elastic strap kept the mask on. Naruto frowned, finally seeing it on his face. It reminded him of a fox-two ears stood at the top of the mask, small and pointed.

The Nine-Tailed Fox demon had rampaged last when he was a baby. He only heard pieces of the story, but he could deduct most of the rest. The demon had become restless, enraged by some lunatic that had wanted to use its power. Kyuubi, as it was also called, nearly destroyed Konoha. An extraordinary ninja managed to seal the demon away, dying in the process. The village gave him the title of Hokage in remembrance. He was Naruto's idol.

Fanatics still tried to resurrect the fox demon, or they would start cults or gangs in its name. Other demons existed, but the Nine-Tails disaster was still fresh in the minds of the town.

Naruto stuffed the mask in his backpack, then read the rolled-up note that had been under it.

_Ninja have names to be referred to when they are on duty. Yours will be Nine. As a beginner, you will join a team of three plus a mentor. You will receive your uniform as well when you return home from school. You may _not_ speak to anyone about your ninja duties. If a friend or family member asks you whether or not you passed your ninja exam, this will be the first year that you are allowed to say yes if you want them to know. But you may not share anything else. Once you reach a certain level, you may tell your guardian and your team members anything that is not highly classified. I am your mentor, Naruto. I expect to meet you in our new training area with your team tonight at six. It will be the field north of the school. See you then, Nine._

_-Sensei_

Naruto grinned, imagining it. Then he went to school.

Kiba greeted him at his locker.

"Hey, dude. So, did you take the test? Did you get through?" Gotta hand it to Kiba for being blunt. Naruto gave a thumbs up.

"Yeah, you?"

"Sure did! This is gonna be awesome. Wish we could talk more about it, but hey, maybe we'll be on the same team!" Hinata joined them.

"H-hey!" she said.

"Hi, Hinata! Did you take the ninja test?" Naruto asked. Kiba snorted.

"You kidding, Naruto? She might be a Hyuga, but she's hardly a fighter."

"I took it," she pouted. Before they could ask her any more, she smiled at someone over Kiba's shoulder.

"Hi, Hinata!" said Sakura, passing by. Man, was she pretty . . . "Ready for class?" Hinata only nodded and hurried away with her.

"Ugh, let's hope Kakashi isn't late again," Kiba said as the boys headed to class. Ino, Sakura's friend, snorted.

"Dog boy, I had him last year. He's late to _everything._"

"Ugh, shut up, Ino. You're just embarrassed that you had a crush on him then," Kiba grinned. The glare we received was our cue to run to class.

Kakashi was on time, weirdly enough. He grinned at the class.

"All right, everyone. Open your books to page sixteen and read the selection on your own. Then we'll discuss it. I'll write questions on the board for you to consider in the process. . ."

At lunch, everyone was buzzing about the exams. Naruto was tripped on the way to his table. He jumped up and glared at whoever did it, but a whole table of idiots was smirking at him.

"Heh, dead last, did you pass your test?" Rather than shouting that he did, he only glared, and their laughter got louder. Someone leaned back from their table and turned to them.

"Did you even take it? I bet you didn't get a letter back if you did. Troublesome idiots," said a guy Naruto saw around school but never spoke to. Shikamaru, that was his name.

"Who asked you?" Naruto snapped. He didn't need help with this.

"Whatever." He went back to the table with Kiba, Hinata, Sakura, Choji, and Ino. Normally, Sakura and Ino wouldn't give him a second look, but because Hinata was their friend they seemed to tolerate the less popular kids like Naruto, Kiba, and Choji.

"So did you take the exam Hinata? Did you make it?" Naruto asked immediately, remembering she never got to answer earlier. She blushed.

"I-uh-got the mask today."

"Awesome!" Kiba grinned toothily. Sakura and Ino both congratulated her.

"I got mine too," said Sakura.

"Me too! Maybe we'll be on the same team!" Ino squealed.

"We won't know, will we though? Not for a really long time. Wish we could know sooner who we were working with," Kiba pondered, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his head.

"Heh, it'd be cool still, wouldn't it? And just imagine, at the end of the year, the best part-the tournament!" Naruto exclaimed. At the end of each school year, the new genin got to fight in a tournament in front of the entire school. Of course, they were in full training gear, so they couldn't be recognized, but everyone loved that day. It was the final day of Spring Fling week, after a week of themed spirit days, occasional free ice cream sandwiches, and cool competitions. And now, Naruto smiled, he'd be one of the fighters to amaze his classmates.

"_Yes_! It's going to be amazing!" Choji said through a mouthful of chips.

* * *

After World Civilization, Naruto rushed towards his locker. He wanted to see his uniform and get ready to meet his team for the first time. The hallway was crowded, so it was hard to get through to his locker. The same group from lunch passed by him, and, laughing, tripped him again.

Unfortunately, Sasuke Uchiha had just turned around in front of him to talk to Neji. Naruto fell on top of Sasuke, eyes popping wide in shock as they collided.

"ACK," Naruto spat, jumping back up. Sasuke wrinkled his nose.

"Watch where you're walking, idiot. Eugh," he shook his head, wiping his lips on his sleeve. The usually calm and cool guy looked seriously annoyed if slightly embarrassed as he picked up his books and walked away quickly. Naruto was as red as a tomato as he did the same. Since lockers were placed alphabetically, they ended up getting their backpacks near each other, and refused to look in one another's eyes.

_Why couldn't it have been someone I actually like? Or at least a girl? _Naruto thought, fuming on his way back home.

* * *

"Hey, I'm back!" he shouted as he walked into the living room.

"There was a package for you at the front door, kid. I put it in your room," responded his uncle from the kitchen. "There's a nasty leak in the sink I'm trying to fix. Careful if you come in here, there's a lot of water."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto dashed into his bedroom and opened the small brown box on his bed. It was a mostly black jumpsuit with a high collar, orange lining, and a red symbol for Konoha on the stomach. A black, thick belt was with it-the belt had a lot of loops and pouches attached, probably for weapons. Combat boots (which on further inspection were made only of cloth with small metal chains and didn't seem much like combat boots at all), black fingerless gloves, and the telltale headband were there as well. It was a blue headband with a metal piece engraved with the symbol for the village-the "Hidden Leaf Village", since it was surrounded by forests.

Naruto grinned, ready to try it on, but unsure if he should. He locked his bedroom door and changed into his uniform, putting on the mask and the headband last. He had a small mirror in his room, so he backed up from it and looked at it. Man, he really looked like a ninja . . .

He took off the mask and did his homework right there, reading mostly, and called out to his uncle.

"Hey, I'm going over to a friend's house to study! Okay?"

"Yeah. Just get some food on the way or something."

"Got it!" Naruto hesitated before climbing out his window and closing it behind him. He dropped to the ground from the sill without a problem and ran off towards the school again. Once he got there, he faced north and looked for the field that the letter mentioned. Amongst the trees, he hit a sizable clearing with a stream running next to it. Two other people his age stood there already.

One was in a red sleeveless shirt and a short white skirt. Underneath the skirt she had dark leggings and some bandage-like material wrapped around one leg. Her hair was long and red (though that might have been dye. A lot of ninja dyed their hair, especially girls, to hide their appearance more), all the way down her back. She had the headband tied around her arm, and her mask was white with pink swirls everywhere. She didn't look very deadly. . .

The other had a deep blue, high-collared jacket over a black net shirt (under which there was nothing, but the jacket was zipped up so Naruto guessed the guy wasn't _too_ conceited). He had black pants and those same combat boots that they all had. One leg had that bandage material, too, like the girl. His mask was metallic with two black streaks. The eye holes on the mask were angled sharply, making him seem feral. His hair was really spiky, black with blue streaks in it. Huh. Maybe Naruto should have done that. The guy was leaning against a tree, arms crossed. The girl had just arrived, too.

"Hey. I'm Nine," Naruto said, figuring this must be his team.

"I'm Spark," said the girl, holding out her hand for him to shake. He did so. They both turned to the guy already there.

"My name's Blade. Any idea where our mentor is?" he asked.

"Heck if I know," Naruto said, "Wanna spar in the meantime?" He was eager to see if he could fight.

"Sure," Blade said, the smirk evident in his voice.

"Let's go!" Naruto took a fighting stance, grinning. Moments later, he was pinned down.

"I win. Impressive that you even became a ninja."

"Hey, I still have to learn stuff! Not my fault you're strong already. Spark, you want to try?"

"Sure." She pounced on Naruto, and they fought for a few minutes. Then, the guy from Naruto's test was there.

"Hello, everyone. Call me Sensei. I see you're pretty eager to start training," he chuckled. "You're all very early. It was six on the letter. It's going to be six in five minutes. Don't make me look bad to the other teams!" He grinned good-naturedly, by the change in his eyes.

"I'm your mentor, and you're going to be called Team Seven. Now let's get down to the real training, shall we?" They all straightened up and nodded.

"Good." He held up two small silver bells, smiling. "Let's begin."

* * *

**Ta-daa! Chapter two! I haven't seen Naruto in years, so my memory is a bit fuzzy on how most of it worked. Forgive my inaccuracies where they are . . . some is on purpose, some isn't. Be sure you check out my poll! It affects the final pairings, not the crushes along the way, so keep that in mind. I'm willing, but not limited to, the pairings listed in the poll on my profile. Believe it or not, these are the pairings I have listed, though I'm not limited to them only: **

**Naruto X Hinata**

**Naruto X Sakura**

**Naruto X Sasuke**

**Sasuke X Sakura**

**Sasuke X Sakura**

**Sasuke X Hinata**

**Kiba X Hinata**

**Neji X Ino**

**Shikamaru X Ino**

**Shikamaru X Temari**

**Rock Lee X Sakura**

**Not all of these pairings are necessarily realistic or my favorite, but they are ones that I'm willing to write about. I watched the show when I was little, so I remember really liking Hinata and Naruto together, and kind of having every pairing fall around that. But I'm open to changing that in this fic. Let me know what you guys like by going to the poll! Or, if you must, mention it in a review. Reviews are very appreciated, with comments, criticisms, questions all welcome! I try to address every review in a PM or in the next chapter! Thanks for reading!**

**See you later!**

**Flute Chick**


	3. Team Work

**And training begins! Woohoo!**

* * *

_Chapter Three:_

_Team Work_

"As you can see, there are two bells, and three of you. You have to get the bells from me. Go."

Half an hour later, still none of them had a bell. Naruto was becoming increasingly frustrated, and his teammates were the same. Each of them had attempted head-on attacks, sneaking up on him, and still, he was looking through his little notebook, whistling, the bells still in his hands. The three of them were all at the base of a large, dying oak tree just outside the clearing.

"Ugh," Naruto sat on the ground, exhausted from his last attempt.

"We can't do this alone. He sees me coming if I attack, and he sees me coming if I sneak up. He's too focused to let me by." Spark punched the nearest tree branch, frustrated.

"Same," Naruto groaned.

"Yeah." They all sat there for some time, annoyed at their predicament. Then Spark smacked her forehead.

"We could all attack. He never actually said one of us specifically needs a bell each." Naruto was on his feet again.

"Yeah! Two of us could distract him while the other sneaks up and gets the bells."

"Not a bad idea . . . I'm surprised," said Blade. But there was still a smile in his voice.

"I'll sneak up on him. My fighting skills aren't the best," Spark volunteered.

"Since Nine clearly is the loudest, he'll start with a head-on attack. Then I'll jump in, pretending like I'm trying to sneak by him, and I'll fight. Then he'll have to drop the bells to keep us two busy. Then Spark, when his attention is completely gone, can take the bells."

"And I've got just the thing to get his attention," Naruto grinned.

* * *

Kakashi sighed. They apparently didn't understand that this was a teamwork exercise yet. He'd give it another hour, then go after them.

"Now I'll beat you," said a familiar voice behind him. He sighed.

"And what's your strategy this time?" A sound he knew all too well was the only reply-shadow clones. He expected a few, but turned to find a hundred identical ninja.

Kakashi sighed, drew his kunai, and began to destroy the clones. A burst of fire blew through them suddenly. There stood Blade.

"Hey, get out of my way!" The nearest ten clones said.

"Hn. As if. I'm taking advantage of your mistakes." With that, the darker-haired shinobi joined the fray. Kakashi tied the bells to his belt and began to fight them. Clearly it was worse than he thought-they still thought of it as a competition, so the clones were divided between him and Blade.

And just as suddenly as they had begun to fight him, the clones disappeared and both Nine and Blade smirked at him.

"We win," cheered Spark behind him. _Should have seen through that one,_ he thought.

"Good job, team," he laughed. "This was a teamwork exercise. Clearly you understand that. You can continue sparring or go home now; that's all I have for you today. Same time tomorrow." The three of them then turned to one another. Kakashi leaned against the wooden post that had once been part of a fence there and listened to their conversations.

* * *

"So, you guys . . . I guess we're a team. It's so surreal. Just think, we'll be the ones to fight in the school tournament at the end of the year! And we'll be going on missions to protect Konoha, and . . . wow. Hard to believe any of this is real," Naruto said.

"Yeah, I can't believe it. Blade, what do you think?"

"It's a big change. But I always pictured myself here, a fighter, a ninja." He sounded like he would have added on to it, but Naruto didn't press him.

"My dream is to become Hokage one day, but it's still so weird," Naruto told them.

"Well, you're on your way. I don't know what I want to be in the future . . . I just know that this is what I want now." Spark said.

"Enough of that deep, in-depth talk," Naruto chuckled after a few minutes of silence. Spark smacked him upside the head.

"You're the one who started it," she said.

"Ow!" he rubbed his head where she'd hit it.

"Guess I'd better head home. My parents will be wondering where I am," she finally said, backing up before turning to jog away.

"Shouldn't you two head home, too?" their Sensei asked.

"My uncle won't care. As long as he sees me once a day to know I'm alive, he's all right with it."

"My caretaker is a ninja. He'd understand if I've been training," Blade said. _Caretaker?_

"What happened to your parents?" Naruto asked.

"They were killed," Blade responded, immediately ice-cold.

"Mine too-in the Nine-Tails attack," Naruto said awkwardly. "I guess I'd better head back. See you later."

"See you."

* * *

Naruto sighed, staring at the page. _Write a paragraph about this question: Who was the most evil in the story, and why? Give examples from the text to support your answer._ That was written on the board in class the next day. On Naruto's sheet of paper, he had his name written, and only that.

"Guess we're not on a team together, eh, Naruto?" Kiba said.

"Nah, the guy on my team was _way_ too short." After all, Kiba was one of the extra-tall guys in their class. On the other hand, Blade had been able to look Naruto in the eye when they sparred.

"Right. And the other guy on my team was _way_ too quiet," he whispered back. Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes, and just wrote nonsense, quoting certain sections of the story that seemed to go with his supposed theory.

"Hey, dead last," whispered a voice across the row, "Did you _really_ make it? You must be a joke of a ninja."

Naruto hunched his shoulders and let the class continue, not raising his hand once.

In gym, they were running laps around the track. Naruto hated it-he only liked running in short sprints. After the first lap, he was panting.

"Hey, dead last! See, you can't possibly be good enough!" shouted the same kid from earlier. Naruto glared at their back as he wheezed, still jogging. _I won't walk. I won't walk. _Sure, Naruto wasn't the most athletic . . . then again, he was probably the least athletic kid in the class. _It really is a miracle that I'm a ninja_. _I've got to get stronger. I've got to do this_. He pushed on, faster, even though his lungs were screaming for oxygen and his legs burned. He wasn't last anymore-he was in line with some of the elitists, in fact, who were fairly ahead. Neji, Sasuke, Gaara, and Naruto were all on par, though the other three hardly seemed to be struggling. Lee was going on ahead of them all, first in the class.

"Maybe you should slow down," Sasuke said, noticing Naruto. He figured the guy needed some air.

"Not-a-chance," Naruto gasped, glaring at him. Sasuke sped up slightly. Naruto matched his pace.

Soon, Sasuke was sprinting to the end, dashing faster than most of the class was capable of. Naruto tried to keep up, but his legs just didn't move that fast. He collapsed in a heap at the end, and the coach jogged over to check on him.

"Need some water, kid?"

"Heh, yeah," he managed. The field was spinning slightly.

"Idiot." Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked away. Naruto glared at his back, nearly spilling the water that the coach had handed him.

* * *

Sasuke walked home alone. Kakashi met him at the door.

"So, how was your day?"

"Fine. Naruto nearly passed out in gym trying to race me." Kakashi chuckled.

"Well, you can't blame the kid for trying to get stronger. Not unlike someone else I know," Kakashi grinned.

"We're nothing alike!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," the white-haired man shrugged. Sasuke glared at him.

"Tch. Ugh." Sasuke left a pile of books and papers on his table. Then even though no one else was there, Sasuke jumped and turned suddenly.

"You know, I've lived with you for a few years. I think I can recognize your voice even if you're wearing a mask . . . Sensei."

"Heh. Sasuke. Go get ready for training. And don't let on. You're not supposed to know until after a little while, okay?" Sasuke nodded.

* * *

On the way to training, Naruto passed an older ninja crouched behind a bush, looking into a fence.

"What are you doing?" he asked. The man, startled, jumped up to his feet. He had long white hair, a plain white mask, and red traditional garb. Naruto looked in between the fence boards for a second and rolled his eyes. It was a direct view of a teenage girl's bedroom, where it appeared she'd just changed into a new outfit. Naruto jumped back and shook his head.

"You old perv."

"Excuse me?" the man said, "do you know who I am?"

"Like I said, and old perv."

"I am one of the legendary Sannin! The frog sage! I highly doubt you even-"

"That seems unlikely..." Naruto ran his mouth without thinking when he wasn't careful. He shrugged. "I have to go train with my team. See ya, pervy sage."

The man's eye twitched as the young ninja ran off.

"Kid, you have no idea . . ."

* * *

Blade, Nine, and Spark were all sparring again-they'd shown up early-when their sensei showed up.

"All right. I'm going to teach you some basic ninjutsus. Then we'll focus on chakra control. Then we'll be done for the day. Tomorrow we'll talk about weapons and techniques. We should be getting your first mission sometime next week."

They mirrored hand signals at first, then put the jutsus to work. The first one to get them was always Blade, second was usually Spark, and Nine was always last.

"All right. It looks like you understand those. Keep working on Substitution, Spark. Nine . . . I don't know where you got that jutsu and I frankly don't care if it's effective. It's not funny." Naruto shrugged, but the smile didn't fall from his face.

"I made it up. Didn't really know what to expect. I won't use it . . . on you." Sensei raised his eyebrows.

"I don't break promises. That's my way," Naruto swore, grinning.

"Whatever you say. Now, I'm going to teach you all how to walk across water. It's useful. We'll use this small river here." Each of them stared as their Sensei walked out to the middle of the river and stood on the top of the water.

"See? Isn't it easier to just walk across instead of swimming, wading, or looking for a bridge when you need to get somewhere fast?"

"How is that possible?" Spark wondered.

Before they knew it, they were each able to walk across the river quickly. They weren't able to stand still, though.

"Keep the chakra steady," Kakashi warned, "The water's cold." Which meant that Naruto on his first try to stand still fell in with a large splash. He got up right away, teeth chattering.

Spark understood it, and was able to hold still for a few seconds, but then her feet started to feel wet so she ran to the edge again, unable to keep it up. Then Blade tried, shakily at first. He did not fall in. Naruto tried again, refusing to be outdone. He just had to keep steady chakra. He took a deep breath and focused down on his feet, letting the chakra spread on the bottoms of them. He braced himself for the icy fall, eyes closed.

"Good job, Nine!" Sensei said, and he opened his eyes again, and looked at his feet.

He could stand.

* * *

**Eh. Not what I'd hoped but it could have been a worse chapter. I've made progress at least. Be sure to check out the pairing poll in my profile if you want particular pairings by the end of this story! And if you can't access the poll, I'm okay with reviews telling me what you guys like in addition. **

**I know it's not the same as the original show, but I'm taking my own spin on things in regards to the way things are taught and what's happening in order and all that. **

**See you guys later!**

**-Flute Chick**


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